A researcher has managed to trace the fate of the missing fragments of the Stone of Destiny, a powerful symbol of the British monarchy.
It has been placed under the coronation chair for the crowning of kings and queens since the 13th century, including Charles III in May 2023.
Professor Sally Foster, an archaeologist at Stirling University, says there are 34 small fragments of the centuries-old object, also known as Stone of Scone, circulated around the world.
And through intensive research, she’s traced the history and whereabouts of several of the pieces, which were distributed by Scottish politician and stonemason Robert Gray between the 1950s and 1970s.
As her new paper reveals, they were gifted to family members, trusted political friends, nationalist politicians and journalists at home and abroad.
She’s managed to chart the suspected whereabouts of 17 of them, but that means another 17 are completely unaccounted for.
‘The existence and significance of a diverse, dispersed body of small fragments of the Stone has been overlooked,’ Professor Foster said.
‘This is not just any stone; since the fourteenth century, nearly all English, later British monarchs, sat over the stone during their coronation.’
The Stone of Destiny, pictured here on display at the new Perth Museum, was used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until the 13th century, and thereafter in the coronation of English and later British monarchs
Laser scans in 2023 revealed the subtle marking ‘XXXV’ which is the number 35 in Roman numerals, according to Professor Sally Foster, archaeologist at the Stirling University
This summary shows Stone of Destiny fragments known to be dispersed by Bertie Gray, and their transmission (correct to December 2024). It shows the suspected whereabouts of 17 of them, but that suggests another 17 are completely unaccounted for
The Stone of Destiny is said to date back to the 13th century, but on Christmas Day 1950, a botched theft by activists at Westminster Abbey broke it into two.
The following year it was repaired by Robert ‘Bertie’ Gray, but during the restoration work more than 30 little fragments were left over.
Gray never revealed exactly how many fragments before his death in 1975, but Professor Foster thinks it’s 34, citing a crucial clue on the main 335 lb (152kg) slab, which is on display in Perth.
Mr Gray inscribed ‘XXXV’, the Roman numeral for 35, on the slab, interpreted as meaning there are 35 pieces in total (with the 35th being the main one).
This would mean there are 34 fragments out there waiting to be found – and Professor Foster has been on a determined mission to locate them.
The academic has relied on written records and a call-out to the public earlier this year in an effort to settle the mystery.
One fragment, now on display at Queensland Museum in Brisbane, was gifted by Mr Gray to Catherine Milne, a visiting Australian tourist.
On her death in 1967, the family donated the fragment, accompanying letter of authentication and Gray’s business card, to Queensland Museum.
A fragment of the Stone gifted to Queensland Museum in Australia (image courtesy of Queensland Museum and photographer Peter Waddington)
One fragment is known to have been gifted to former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and kept at the SNP’s headquarters (pictured)
Another beneficiary was Canadian journalist and Calgary Herald editor Dick Sanburn, who mounted his piece behind his desk in the 1950s.
Amazingly, another bit set in a brooch was given away as second prize in a Scottish raffle in 1955, according to her new study.
Perhaps even more astonishingly, one of the activists who stole the Stone of Destiny at Westminster, Ian Hamilton, got a bit that he then gave to his girlfriend, again set in jewellery.
Yet another fragment is known to have been gifted to former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond and kept at the SNP’s headquarters.
Decades before this, in 1974, it had been gifted to Margaret MacCormick, the widow of John, a friend of Mr Gray and fellow Scottish nationalist.
One other SNP politician also owned a fragment – Winnie Ewing, who was photographed in 1967 next to legendary TV host David Frost wearing a necklace with a stone fragment inset. Ms Ewing joked ‘she would like to be arrested for being in possession of stolen property’.
‘Other sources showing her wearing the necklace during her successful campaign for election to Parliament in November 1967,’ said the professor.
In September 1974, Mr Gray said he did still have in his possession ‘one or two small pieces’, one of which he gave to his daughter Marion with a letter of authentication. In 2018, she put her framed letter and fragment up for auction, where it was expected to reach £3,000, but concern about the sale led to its ‘discreet withdrawal’.
In this image, photo (a) shows a fragment donated to Australian Catherine Milne, while (b) shows Scottish politician Winnie Ewing with TV host David Frost Winnie Ewing wearing her necklace with the inset stone fragment
Pictured, a service to mark the arrival of the Stone of Destiny to Westminster Abbey in London in April 2023
According to Professor Foster, the majority of the fragments have been treasured and looked after rather than publicly paraded.
‘Few people opted to brazenly flaunt and taunt with their possession, except for some politicians,’ she said.
‘Families cared for them, emotionally and physically, and we can also trace the progression of fragments to valued heirlooms.’
However, about half are still unaccounted for, and Professor Foster is still keen to hear from people who may have knowledge of the others’ whereabouts.
‘I’m hoping even more people will now get in contact, and I am particularly keen to hear from Bertie Gray’s family,’ she told the Daily Mail.
Her research has been published in The Antiquaries Journal.
What happened to the Stone of Destiny?
The Stone of Destiny has featured in the coronation of every English sovereign – with the exception of Mary I and Mary II – since 1307, having been made sometime between 1200 and 1300.
On Christmas Day in 1950, it was stolen by four young Scottish robbers who snuck into Westminster Abbey by a side door.
But, being unprepared for its heftiness – it weighed 24 stone – the activists dropped it and it broke in two when it hit the floor before escaping with both pieces in a car.
Also known as Stone of Scone, the revered object has long been an ancient symbol of the Scottish and British monarchy, used since the 1300s for the inauguration of kings and queens. Pictured, inside Westminster Abbey during a welcome ceremony, April 29, 2023
On discovering that Stone of Destiny was missing, authorities closed the border between Scotland and England for the first time in 400 years.
The robbers hired Robert ‘Bertie’ Gray to mend the stone, who inserted a brass rod, containing a piece of paper, during his repair (although what was written on the paper remains unknown).
His restoration work created more than 30 fragments which would find their way around the world when they were gifted as mementos.
The main slab was finally found safe on the altar at Arbroath Abbey, draped in a Saltire, in April 1951 before being returned to Westminster the following year.
In 1996, it was finally returned to Scotland in recognition of 700 years since it was taken by English king Edward I.
While the stone’s origins are unclear, some place them in Biblical times and identify it as the Stone of Jacob, taken by Jacob from Bethel while on the way to Haran in the Middle East, as told in the Book of Genesis.
The Stone of Destiny – an oblong block of sandstone – was under the Coronation chair where King Charles sat when officially crowed on May 6, 2023
But in 2023, prior to the coronation of King Charles III, an academic poured cold water on this theory.
Professor Ian Bradley, a historian at the University of St Andrews said it’s ‘highly doubtful’ the one used in the Coronation is the ‘original’ from the Holy Land.
He said the object is made of a type of sandstone that is ‘unknown’ in the Middle East but ‘relatively common’ around Scone in Perthshire.
Scone is the location where English king Edward I looted the stone (from Scone Abbey) in 1296 and brought it to London – and some think Edward was fobbed off with a fake.
The Stone of Destiny is now on public display at Perth Museum, having been transported last year from Edinburgh, where it was targeted by vandals.
